Purina turned a checkerboard feed business into a pet-care system that reaches the grocery aisle, the veterinary clinic and the modern home. Its advantage is less one famous bag than a century of science, factories and brands built for almost every bowl.
Champion Petfoods turned a simple premise - put more recognizable animal ingredients into the bowl - into two global premium brands. Four decades in, the Mars-owned company is betting that the next contest in pet food will be won in the pilot kitchen as much as the pet-store aisle.